Little fish slipped past their feet in the clear stream.
Hu Songlin sat beside the bridge, still holding his fish basket. In good spirits, he asked, "Mr. 39, when did we first meet?"
"I don't remember."
Xie De stood on the bridge, gazing out over the Small Town. More and more outsiders were arriving. Many had woken from their illusions, only to fall into this one.
Hu Songlin looked over in the same direction, his expression calm, neither curious nor surprised.
The various factions in the Small Town were attacking one another.
There were people from the Club, the Laboratory, the Illuminati, and many factions he didn't recognize. They talked to one another while keeping their guards up.
The Club and the Laboratory had serious conflicts of interest, and tensions were now running high.
The Illuminati and the Laboratory, meanwhile, were partners through their business dealings, and the two factions had joined forces against the Club.
By rights, the Club should have been at a disadvantage, but several other factions strongly endorsed its ideals. As they talked, they came over to act as the Club's lackeys, even calling themselves its Exploration Department and Mystery Department.
They traded barbs while searching for the master of the illusion. After all that searching, everything had descended into chaos.
Looking down from the bridge, Xie De spotted several familiar faces: Su Qian, Zuo Shenghang, Orion, and Xiao Jiejun, who had come to meet up with Zuo Shenghang, as well as Ying Lin and Xi Yijiu from the Illuminati. He didn't see Wei Yanchi. Perhaps Wei Yanchi was in another illusion.
None of them seemed to see him.
Yet the bridge was actually in a very conspicuous location.
Xie De guessed that Hu Songlin's constitution might have kicked in again, causing everyone to subconsciously overlook